Game
by lorelei2876
Summary: Sanosuke felt the penetrating ache that reverberated up and down his body. He growled, reached up to clutch Kenshin's sweat soaked clothing and took the redhead completely by surprise.


Here's an old fic that I wrote back in my heyday. It's still one of my favorites.

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Sanosuke panted, sweat dripping down his face, cheeks flushed with heat and exertion. His chest heaved with effort, trying to get air down his starved lungs. His eyes blurred with exhaustion, his arms and legs burning from strain. He flexed his hands, clenching them into tight fists as he stared hard into cool violet eyes; eyes that gauged every reaction, every movement, every breath, every gasp.

Kenshin watched him impassively, his face a mask of iron control, trying to calm his own breathing. He looked deeply into Sanosuke's narrowed brown eyes, warm brown eyes that looked for any weakness, any breach of control. Kenshin wasn't about to give in, wasn't about to leave any openings. They had been at it for hours, and Sanosuke refused to stop despite his exhaustion. Kenshin's mouth stretched into a humorless grimace, and pushing back his own tiredness, called upon years of patience and stamina, then dove with a swift stabbing motion towards Sano. He frowned at the sight of Sano's wince of pain at contact.

Sanosuke felt the penetrating ache that reverberated up and down his body. He growled, reached up to clutch Kenshin's sweat soaked clothing and took the redhead completely by surprise. With a grunt of effort, Sanosuke pulled Kenshin close, their bodies slamming hard against each other, skin against skin, damp cloth sticking uncomfortably close. Kenshin's hand moved between their bodies to grab at Sanosuke's wrist.

"Let me go, Sanosuke" Kenshin commanded, his voice quiet, his body motionless against Sanosuke's hard length.

Kenshin could feel Sanosuke's erratic heartbeat, the shallow panting breaths that stirred the hair against his temples. But this was not the way, and Sanosuke knew it.

With a last convulsive clutch at him, Sanosuke obeyed with a snarl of disgust. Kenshin was the leader, and he had to follow the rules. He slowly slid his hand down and felt Kenshin warily let go of his wrist. Sano took a reluctant step back, letting the cooling breeze run over his overheated body. He took a deep breath and tried hard to relax.

"Good. I told you that if you wanted this, you would have to follow my rules." Kenshin's narrow eyed violet glare burned a hole into Sano's skull. "Follow what I say, and we will continue with this lesson."

Sanosuke bowed his dark head in assent, eyes flicking from Kenshin's face down to his torso that gleamed with the sheen of perspiration. Sano derived a perverse pleasure at the sight of Kenshin's fatigue. He reveled in the gasping breaths that stirred flame colored hair which fell over Kenshin's delicate face. He was so caught up with his thoughts that he never noticed Kenshin move.

With a low growl, Kenshin threw himself towards Sanosuke, his small frame a whirlwind of motion, his hair a streaming banner of fire and light. Sanosuke fell on his back, all thoughts centered on getting breath back within his body.

Kenshin stood over him, the low light of the afternoon silhouetting his body, his hair aflame. He smiled at the prone body beneath him.

"You've lost."

Sanosuke took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and gritted his teeth. He'd lost. Again.

"You should have been paying attention to me, not to whatever you were thinking about." Kenshin folded his arms over his chest, imitating the pose of a scolding teacher lecturing a recalcitrant student.

"...Kenshin..."

"Oro..?" Kenshin was still standing over him, head tilted to the side, katana sheathed over his left hip.

"You should be paying attention to me rather than standing there smirking."

With a near invisible movement, Sano swept Kenshin's feet from under him, and the redhead fell on his behind with a humiliatingly loud thud and an undignified yell of pain.

Sanosuke snickered, and with a smug voice, declared, "Tag. You're it."

Kenshin just groaned.


End file.
